Coming-of-age stories are typical for YA audiences or teenage characters, but when they involve late-twenty-somethings in the backdrop of the bustling Bay Area, they unfold into an entirely different genre. Add a self-doubting underdog—our protagonist, Becca Muchmore—who has the power to cheer anyone up with her incredible baked goods, as well some ridiculously corny mishaps she encounters on her path to finding true love, and you've got How to Bake a Man, Jessica Barksdale Inclán's latest novel.

I'm new to this author, but was drawn to How to Bake a Man because it reads very contemporary—very feathery and cheerful and cutesy. The lightness of mood, however, comes at the expense of substance and depth, which this book thinks it has—slightly worse of an offense than a book that intentionally has no substance at all.

There are so many issues with the plot in terms of believability and (personal) tolerability, even for a romantic comedy-sque novel:

1. Becca Muchmore is a grad school dropout experiencing a crippling crisis after a terrible breakup.
Have we ever encountered anything more cliché?

2. To make ends meet, she starts a baked goods company, since baking has always been her lifelong passion. Immediately and effortlessly, she is picked up by the town's most prestigious law firm and asked to cater for their entire office; her business is a success right away.
Naturally.

3. At work, Becca meets Jennifer, the "ogress" of an antagonist of the story, who is her skinnier, prettier, smarter, wealthier, and more successful doppelgänger. She develops an obsession with Jennifer.
It is very uncomfortable.

4. Becca begins to suspect that Jennifer's equally perfect boyfriend is her soul mate. Her, as in Becca's, absolutely not Jennifer's.
Unrealistic dialogue and some very heavy petting occur.

5. Becca realizes she is terribly, terribly wrong about the soul mate thing... but all's okay because her actual soul mate turns out to be (at the last minute) her best friend. It was him all along! Surprise central!
As if the plot wasn't enough of a mess already.

Being a romance fanatic myself, I don't say this often... but the main love story should have been kept out of this book entirely. It would have made for a much cleaner, sharper novel about the coming-of-age of an unlikely heroine who finds herself, along with her true passions, by first being slammed with the harsh reality that is life. Instead, How to Bake a Man went the typical, overused route where Becca Muchmore faces a few career-related and personal complications (which, judging by the degree of their silliness and lack of depth, would only happen in some chick flick... or in this book) but instead ends up finding the love of her life in an unexpected—but entirely obvious—place.

Becca's obsession with Jennifer, her lookalike, is also really, really weird, and I don't understand how it even fits in with the main plot. There's so much concentration on this strange coincidence of her meeting a woman that could be her twin, that I thought the book was heading in the direction of The Parent Trap; alas, the situation didn't really give me such satisfaction, as it didn't have much purpose.

What's so ridiculously unappealing to me is how lacking in dimension and originality all the secondary characters are. They are written with such forced humor that they become laughable tropes. The only non-singular character is Becca, whom I'm conflicted about because I at once hate her and like (not love) her. On one hand she's delusional and really slow-witted—neither lovable nor admirable—but on the other, she's genuine and klutzy in an endearing way. Inclán could have strengthened the book immensely just by revising Becca's character (not to mention that of the rest).

The saving grace of the book is how much attention is given to all the desserts Becca bakes. Scattered among the chapters, are anecdotes on how each of her sugary, buttery treats is meaningful to her, along with full recipes. The absurd story made me really angry, but the recipes left me starving.

I now have felt everything, having finally experienced what it means to be hangry.

Pros: Light-hearted tone, like a cheesy rom-com movie // Well paced // Inclán has a warm, attentive writing style that makes Becca, the narrator, seem more personable // Actual recipes from the story included!

Cons: My opinions are Becca are polarized; I find her at times endearing and at others, completely intolerable // Predictable friends-to-lovers romance subplot // Would have been better without the "happily ever after" romance, just as an adult coming-of-age novel // All secondary characters seem like plot devices rather than real people // Voice is easy to read, but tries WAY too hard to be funny... ends up being not even remotely funny

Verdict: If you're in the mood for a cheesy contemporary romance whose premise will give any far-fetched soap opera a run for its money, you'd best give How to Bake a Man a try. Following the quarter-life crisis of a woman with little confidence but lots of baking vision, this friends-to-lovers story has an amusing story line, but is abundant in problems with characterization, voice, and authenticity. I like that Jessica Barksdale Inclán pursued a baking enthusiast's take on chick lit, but found it to be too all over the place to take seriously. I could have appreciated it more if it was satirical, extraordinarily well-written, or "packed with charm, sparkling humor, and a genuinely unforgettable cast" as advertised, but sadly, it was none of the above.

Rating: 4 out of 10 hearts (2 stars): So-so; reading this book may cause wrinkles (from frowning so much).

Source: Complimentary advanced reading copy provided by tour publicist via publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, TLC Book Tours and Ghostwoods Books!) ( )

Becca Munchmore is 27 years old and the oldest student in her graduate level marketing class. She's worried about fitting in, and wearing her mother's old discarded denim skirt that she found in the Goodwill bag doesn't help.

She comes to the realization that school is not the answer. Her boyfriend left her to work in Africa to help the poor, she quit the job she had, and now she has a idea. She loves to bake; why not sell her baked goods to offices? Though her mother hates the idea, she loans Becca the money to buy supplies.

Now she just needs an office to start. Her best friend Dez lives across the country, but Dez' husband has a contact in a San Francisco law office and gets Becca an interview. Becca's delicious baked treats win over the friend, and she has her first client.

Sal, her downstairs neighbor, drives a taxi and works as a bouncer, but he wants to help Becca with her business. Since Sal has a car and she doesn't, she takes him up on his offer and along with Mom's occasional baking and freezer storage, Becca can make this work.

People in the law office love Becca's Best's muffins, cinnamon rolls and breads. She and Sal make twice daily rounds, and they even make friends with a few of the office staff. Except for Jennifer.

Jennifer is a lawyer with a bad reputation; people actually run and cower when she shows up. Jennifer also looks just like Becca, so much so that Jennifer's boyfriend Jeff, also a lawyer, begins to show an interest in Becca.

Becca thinks Jeff is way too nice to be in love with the horrible Jennifer, and when he kisses Becca, she falls for Jeff. Then she discovers that Jennifer is cheating on Jeff with a married lawyer. Should she tell Jeff?

This story could be a typical chick-lit novel, where the kind-hearted heroine gets the rich, handsome guy after he realizes the woman he is dating is no good, and that would have been okay. The story is interesting enough, and I liked the food angle. (The descriptions of Becca's baked goods made me drool.)

But the story takes a turn I wasn't completely expecting, and that elevates this novel to a good story. As I was reading How To Bake A Man, all I could think of was that this would make such a cute romantic comedy movie. The characters are interesting, the story has some twists-and-turns, and I could see Emma Stone or Rachel McAdams playing Becca in the movie.

How To Bake A Man is the perfect book to pick up on a Friday night after a hard week's work, it's a fun, light read. And it will inspire you to run out to the grocery store to stock up on baking supplies as Inclan includes her delightful recipes for the reader to recreate and enjoy. ( )